Cost Help! Here's the scenario, what's do you think?

[fiddlehead]

It can be done on the cheap.
But, you have to be tough.
My wife comes from a poor family.
She still prefers to dump buckets of cold water over her head to shower rather than use our hot shower.
She eats veggies, chili peppers and rice. Almost every day the same.
She's tough.

I've seen tougher in the jungles here in Thailand.
People who live out there with no electricity and seem to have one set of clothes that they've been wearing for years.
They don't need shoes. Make sandals out of tires.
It can be done.

Is our OP tough enough?
Maybe.

[Water Rat]

It can be done on the cheap.
But, you have to be tough.
My wife comes from a poor family.
She still prefers to dump buckets of cold water over her head to shower rather than use our hot shower.
She eats veggies, chili peppers and rice. Almost every day the same.
She's tough.

I've seen tougher in the jungles here in Thailand.
People who live out there with no electricity and seem to have one set of clothes that they've been wearing for years.
They don't need shoes. Make sandals out of tires.
It can be done.

Is our OP tough enough?
Maybe.

It can be done for cheap and you do have to be tough. I say this from the perspective of one who spends half the year in another country with no running water, living on limited solar power. When I make the return to the US every year it is extremely jarring. Also makes me want to immediately get back on the plane and head back to land where people are happier with less.

Older generations are much better at making do with less, and they tend to be more self-disciplined. The younger generations seem to "need" more and more to be happy. Obviously, these are generalizations of the US society as a whole. There are lots of people who have grown up having to be tough in the US, but not nearly as many as in other countries.

Going cheap can absolutely be done, but that usually takes experience and self-discipline. Not saying the OP lacks these qualities, but if you look at the posts he has made there does not appear to be a lot of (backpacking) experience in his background. That is something that can be overcome, but generally means a LOT more research will need to happen. Given that the OP also plans on traveling with others, as well as the fact that he is 22, and that decreases the odds of his being able to fight the town stops. Not saying he won't be able to stick to his plan, but the odds are not in his favor.

[bearcreek]

image.jpegOne way to save a lot of money is to find alternatives to commercially produced freeze dried foods. (I haven't carried any in years.) This photo shows some of the stuff I prefer to take instead. Knorr Sides are fantastic, provide similar calories, and are available in grocery stores almost everywhere. They come in dozens of different types and flavors, and cost 50 cents to a dollar instead of $8 to $10 per meal. There are so many different ones that you can add a bit of variety to your meals. I also eat instant dried potatoes, Ramen, Easy Mac, candy bars, trail mix, etc. These foods don't have as much wasteful packaging as the expensive stuff so they are more compact, and I can pack a full week's food plus gas in a single large flat rate box.

[TNhiker]

but the odds are not in his favor

This here is correct....

the odds are not in the OP's favor at all......

[hikeandbike5]

A note about Flat Rate Priority Mail: You can provide your own box and save a buck or two. A box approximating the large size from the post office will do.

actually no- the flat rate boxes are free, and the flat rate is good only for usps-provided packaging.

[MuddyWaters]

A note about Flat Rate Priority Mail: You can provide your own box and save a buck or two. A box approximating the large size from the post office will do. Also, you save a little by handling the payment & printing the label online. That's still a LOT of postage.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles to Kalispell, MT and on to Glacier N.P. Who knows how you get from Crazy Cook back into the world. Get to El Paso someway, somehow I suppose. Then where are you? Grinning.

Thru-hiking ain't free.

Wayne

Yes you can ship your own box priority, just not flat rate. Flat rate comes into play when boxes are very heavy. I mail things all the time that I sell on ebay. Often, parcel post is by far the cheapest, gets there the same time or one day later than priority, and still has tracking. There is no reason to really pay for priority, but there is for flat rate if your box weighs 15 lbs.

[Venchka]

actually no- the flat rate boxes are free, and the flat rate is good only for usps-provided packaging.

Don't know about today, but I have provided my own box and paid online and saved a buck or two. The USPS boxes were not free.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[Venchka]

That said, getting from the Mexican border back into the real world remains a mystery.
A clever team of folks would be buying in bulk on sale and repackaging their food. If they were really clever, they would also be cooking and dehydrating their own meals. There is plenty of time before late June or early July.
Meanwhile, young Ben is curiously silent. Typical.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[Malto]

That said, getting from the Mexican border back into the real world remains a mystery.
A clever team of folks would be buying in bulk on sale and repackaging their food. If they were really clever, they would also be cooking and dehydrating their own meals. There is plenty of time before late June or early July.
Meanwhile, young Ben is curiously silent. Typical.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

He's on an adventure.

[Bronk]

As others have said, doing a frugal long distance hike can be done. But until you have prior experience doing so I wouldn't bet on it. You won't know you have the discipline to operate that way until you have actually done it and have a few hundred miles under your belt having operated that way...and all of the buddies you plan on taking along have the same kind of experience. And this is coming from someone who did a 4 month hike spending between $1600 and $1700. It can be done, but very few people have the discipline to do so. And very few people who begin a long distance hike in a group will actually complete it...as a group or individually. What do you think is going to happen when you roll into town and one of the people in your party wimps out and wants a restaurant meal, a couple of beers and a hotel room? Easy to answer that question from behind a computer, much harder when you are cold, wet and haven't had a shower or clean clothes in a week. You wouldn't believe how many people spend lots of money and time putting together food boxes and then after they've walked a few hundred miles they find that they are tired of eating what they packed a few weeks ago and want something else, see what others are buying and eating along the trail and decide they want that instead, and then end up throwing their box away or giving the food away. Figure $100 to $200 every time you stop in a town.

[Venchka]

As others have said, doing a frugal long distance hike can be done. But until you have prior experience doing so I wouldn't bet on it. You won't know you have the discipline to operate that way until you have actually done it and have a few hundred miles under your belt having operated that way...and all of the buddies you plan on taking along have the same kind of experience. And this is coming from someone who did a 4 month hike spending between $1600 and $1700. It can be done, but very few people have the discipline to do so. And very few people who begin a long distance hike in a group will actually complete it...as a group or individually. What do you think is going to happen when you roll into town and one of the people in your party wimps out and wants a restaurant meal, a couple of beers and a hotel room? Easy to answer that question from behind a computer, much harder when you are cold, wet and haven't had a shower or clean clothes in a week. You wouldn't believe how many people spend lots of money and time putting together food boxes and then after they've walked a few hundred miles they find that they are tired of eating what they packed a few weeks ago and want something else, see what others are buying and eating along the trail and decide they want that instead, and then end up throwing their box away or giving the food away. Figure $100 to $200 every time you stop in a town.

There it is. Stuff happens. Things change. People change. I reckon that a long hike is a work in progress. Adapting to change is the key. Look at what the NOBO CDT folks had to do in 2015.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.